Following the recent upheaval in the corporate reporting environment, Black Sun present their findings from ‘The 37 to date’, their latest research report on best practice reporting trends focusing on how FTSE 100 companies have reported since the Business Review came into effect. 

On the cusp of the publication of the next batch of December year end reports, it is an interesting time to pull together analysis to date, ready to reflect upon the efforts of the next companies to publish their reports over the upcoming weeks. 

Black Sun compare the current trends in reporting of the 37 companies to date to report under the Business Review, with past achievement in the FTSE 100 in order to sketch the trajectory of narrative reporting going forward in anticipation of the reports to come.

Principal trends from the research appear to be:-

• Quality and content of reports continue to improve, although many companies are still struggling with non-financial key performance indicators and forward looking information
• 94% discuss strategy, with many providing greater insights and clearer linkages throughout the report, up from 75% in 2004
• 56% of companies are stating financial KPIs, up from 19% in 2004
• Evident increase in number of companies stating non-financial KPIs to 39%
• Of those companies stating KPIs 60% are linking them to corporate strategy, up from 25% in 2004. 66% are providing supporting definitions.

David Christopherson, Managing Director of Black Sun Plc commented: “We are pleased to be sharing our research at this exciting time in narrative reporting. We hope that further scrutiny will spur companies on to take their narrative reporting forward and go further than the mandatory requirements.”